Long Branch Loop

File:LongBranchLoop.jpg]]

The Toronto and Mimico Electric Railway and Light Company operated radial railway service along Lake Shore Boulevard originally as a single track line, with sidings to allow vehicles going in opposite directions to pass each other.{{cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tDSXTc98xQcC&q=%22long+branch+loop%22+TTC+OR+streetcar+OR+bus+OR+rail&pg=PA194 |title=Toronto: The Way We Were |publisher=Dundurn Press |first=Mike |last=Filey |author-link=Mike Filey |date=2008 |page=194 |isbn=9781770703506 |accessdate=July 14, 2013 |quote=In 1920 Toronto purchased this and other privately owned electric radial lines operating outside the city and turned their operations over to Ontario Hydro. Eventually, these lines became part of the recently organized Toronto Transportation Commission. The Commission's streetcar route along Lakeshore Road was soon double-tracked all the way west to the site of the present Long Branch loop, while the roadway itself was widened considerably.}} The TTC double-tracked the route, and first operated a loop at Long Branch on December 28, 1928.{{cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fm8EAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Long+Branch+loop%22++railway+OR+streetcar+OR+interurban |title=Wheels of Progress: A Story of the Development of Toronto and Its Public Transportation Services |publisher=Toronto Transit Commission |date=1942 |page=115 |accessdate=July 14, 2013}}

The TTC has used the loop as an interchange point with buses since at least 1935, when the widening of Lakeshore Road west of Etobicoke Creek required the removal of the single-track service to Port Credit. The TTC replaced the streetcar route with the 74 Port Credit bus route, which ran until 1976, when the service was taken over by the newly created Mississauga Transit.{{cite news |url=http://transit.toronto.on.ca/bus/routes/74-port-credit.shtml |title=74 Port Credit (1935–1976) |publisher=Transit Toronto |first=Pete |last=Coulman |date=May 16, 2011 |accessdate=July 14, 2013 |archivedate=November 14, 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114004628/http://transit.toronto.on.ca/bus/routes/74-port-credit.shtml |url-status=dead |quote=Due to highway widening, the PORT CREDIT radial car line was discontinued after the last trip on February 9. New PORT CREDIT bus route starts operating between Long Branch Loop via Lakeshore Road to Mississauga Road, wyeing and returning.}} Other historic TTC bus routes that terminated at the Long Branch loop included 69 Queensway{{cite news |url=http://transit.toronto.on.ca/bus/routes/69-queensway-19.shtml |title=69 Queensway (1947–1963) |publisher=Transit Toronto |first1=Peter |last1=Coulman |first2=Alan |last2=Gryfe |first3=Jeffrey |last3=Kay |date=May 16, 2011 |archivedate=June 24, 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624025457/http://transit.toronto.on.ca/bus/routes/69-queensway-19.shtml |url-status=dead |quote=Service extended west on the Queensway and then south on Brown's Line to Long Branch loop.}} and 87 West Mall.

In 1967, Long Branch GO Station was opened on the adjacent Lakeshore West railway line; service is available as far west as Hamilton or east to the downtown Union Station hub.

On January 6, 1992, the TTC started the 508 Lake Shore rush-hour route running from Long Branch Loop to downtown Toronto via Lake Shore Boulevard, the Queensway and King Street.{{cite web |url=https://transit.toronto.on.ca/streetcar/4106.shtml |title=Route 508 – The Lake Shore Streetcar |publisher=Transit Toronto |first=James |last=Bow |date=October 29, 2023 |access-date=March 1, 2018 }}

The TTC operated a separate Long Branch line (which became route 507 Long Branch), running between Long Branch Loop and Humber Loop, until 1996, when that route was merged with the 501 Queen route.{{cite web |url=https://transit.toronto.on.ca/streetcar/4111.shtml |title=Route 507 - The Long Branch Streetcar (Resurrected) |work=Transit Toronto |first=James |last=Bow |date=October 29, 2023}} A 2012 National Post article described the extended 501 Queen as the longest streetcar line in North America.{{cite news |url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/24/riding-the-501-the-longest-streetcar-route-in-north-america/ |title=Riding the 501: The longest streetcar route in North America |publisher=National Post |first=Vanessa |last=Farquharson |date=March 24, 2012 |archivedate=April 11, 2013 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130411104944/http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/24/riding-the-501-the-longest-streetcar-route-in-north-america/ |url-status=dead |quote=The loop here is slightly more interesting than its Neville and Humber counterparts — there's a colourful streetcar mural on a wall, a proper TTC sign that says Long Branch, washrooms and a Legion Hall nearby.}}

In 2011, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation broadcast a 14-minute semi-autobiographical short film entitled Long Branch.{{cite news |url=http://torontoist.com/2012/11/filmmakers-turn-ttc-inconvenience-into-fodder-for-romance/ |title=Filmmakers Turn TTC Inconvenience into Fodder for Romance: A short film explores the bright side of a long, cold commute. |publisher=The Torontoist |first=Steve |last=Kupferman |date=November 13, 2012 |accessdate=July 14, 2013 |archivedate=July 21, 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130721081226/http://torontoist.com/2012/11/filmmakers-turn-ttc-inconvenience-into-fodder-for-romance/ |url-status=dead |quote=It's the story of Lynn, a young woman who tries to go home with a guy for a one-night stand, only to find out, after she's already hopped transit with him, that he lives in Long Branch, where subways fear to tread. The pair have no choice but to talk to each other during the agonizingly long ride. And talking, as Lynn points out repeatedly, is not what one-night stands are about.}} The film shows two strangers, who were about to share a one-night stand, have their plans fall apart as the distance to the Long Branch loop was too far, and they had too much time to talk to each other first. The filmmakers were a couple, and one member of the film-making couple lived at the Long Branch loop and said his partner routinely declined to come home with him because of the distance.

In early 2016, the 501 Queen route was split at Humber Loop requiring through-riders to change streetcars there. The section between Humber and Long Branch Loops was still branded as 501 Queen even though the section operated like the former 507 Long Branch. In late 2023, after a closure for construction, the section west of Humber Loop was reopened as 507 Long Branch.

{{as of|2023|11|19|df=us}}, the TTC streetcar and bus routes serving Long Branch Loop are:{{cite web |url=https://www.ttc.ca/routes-and-schedules |title=Routes |publisher=Toronto Transit Commission |accessdate=2023-11-21 |df=mdy-all}}

MiWay (Mississauga) bus routes serving Long Branch Loop are:{{cite web|url=https://www.mississauga.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/11/18112239/Long-Branch-GO-Station_Dec23-2024.pdf|title=Long Branch GO Terminal Stops|date=23 December 2024|work=Terminal & Station Maps|publisher=City of Mississauga}}

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Category:Toronto streetcar loops

Category:Railway stations in Canada opened in 1928